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Les films d’animation, nouvelle arme de persuasion massive?
A l’heure où je vous parle se passe sur le net une petite révolution dont nous n’avons même pas conscience (idiots que nous sommes!). Dans un «monde de l’après Copenhague» une véritable guerre en ligne contre le réchauffement climatique vient d’être lancée par 24 artistes internationaux. Un film regroupant les pointures de l’animation (comme Decoy, World Leaders ou Parasol Island) est en train de se créer là sous nos yeux pour dénoncer l’inertie dont nous faisons tous preuve face aux enjeux environnementaux. Retenez bien son nom “Coalition of the willing”, vous risquez d’en entendre parler.
L’idée de “Coalition of the willing” est de proposer une réponse au problème majeur de notre temps: comment galvaniser et mobiliser les opinions publiques mondiales dans la lutte contre le réchauffement climatique? Ce film optimiste et raisonné explore la façon dont nous pourrions utiliser les nouvelles technologies comme Internet pour tirer partie des compétences des militants, des experts et des citoyens ordinaires dans des projets de collaboration pour lutter contre le changement climatique. En prenant ses repères dans la contre-culture des années 60, Coalition of the willing vise à prouver que toutes les révolutions réussies ont pour point de départ l’initiative, la bonne volonté et le pouvoir de la population. Le film devient alors un formidable argument pour le développement d’un nouvel activisme en ligne et explique comment nous pouvons prendre en main la lutte contre le réchauffement climatique.
un extrait vidéo ici
Le film est en train de se créer en ligne aujourd’hui sous nos yeux. Depuis le 3 février le script du film est entièrement disponible sur le site. Toutes les deux semaines une nouvelle vague d’extraits du film sera mise en ligne complétant le scénario final. Le film sera terminé d’ici la mi-avril 2010.
Simon Robson aka Knife Party , réalisateur et producteur a gentiment accepté de répondre à quelques questions pour Greenkiss.
Pour info, ses travaux ont été présentés lors de festivals à travers le monde, comme Edimbourg, Toronto, Raindance et le Brooklyn International Film Festival. Simon a remporté le prix du «meilleur court métrage d’animation» pour son premier film “What Barry Says” à Brooklyn et Londres en 2004. Il a réalisé “Taking Liberties”, un long métrage documentaire sorti en 2007 sur le déclin des libertés civiles au Royaume-Uni, nommé au British Academy of Film and Television Arts.
- how did the idea for the film come about ?
Living a rather idyllic life in Sydney in 2008, I was confronted one day with a billboard advert for Jeep. The ad was a huge photo of a Jeep on top of a mountain, the strap line read in block capitals above, ‘Have fun out there’. I thought to myself, that if people still think it’s okay to scream around the countryside in an SUV burning copious amounts of carbon just for fun, the environmental message isn’t hitting home. So I started drafting plans for an environmental film, which became Coalition of The Willing.
- you call this a ‘post-Copenhagen’ film, what do you mean by it ?
The post-Copenhagen aspect of the film is that we are looking to the future to see what’s next. The writer, Tim Rayner and I started working on the script in July of 2008. Back then we were deeply cynical about what governments could achieve in terms of far reaching agreements at Copenhagen. Unfortunately, our feelings were borne out. We have always felt that the key to tackling the climate crises is to galvanise the energies of the worldwide public in the fight against climate change. The key to kick starting this grass-roots revolution is the creation of high profile online destinations where people from around the world can share their knowledge and generate the tools, innovations and social-networks to combat climate change. Forget governments, the people is where it’s at.
- there is a lot of different artists and different techniques, how do you chose them ?
In entirely different ways. Some of the artists approached me, predominantly after the presentation that Tim Rayner & I gave at the F5 conference in New York in April 2009. I tracked others artists down, like Adam Gault and Mate Steinforth as I’m a fan of their work. Some artists came and went, others i spoke to but it never really happened. It’s been a very organic process, those who have ended up working on the project have been those who have been willing, and I’m incredibly proud and humbled to have worked with all of them.
- what about the way you release the film (the website, by waves…) ?
The film is about online activism geared towards combating global warming, it’s all there in the script on the website. In as much, it would have been absurd not to launch this film online. There was a strong argument not to launch online in that it apparently rules us out of getting into certain film festivals. This is unfortunate, but it’s not a strong enough reason to prevent us doing the web release. I’ve also been very fortunate to work with a great web team helmed by interactive art director Tim Dillon. With Tim’s guidance we’ve been able to put together a terrific site that showcases everyone’s work brilliantly, I’m very pleased with the results. As for releasing the film piece by piece in ‘waves’, well I believe that it’s a better way to build interest in the film and the issues than having just a single ‘one off’ release. If our film had a traditional three act narrative and surprises were revealed towards the end, it would have been absurd to do it this way, we’d have given the game away early. But as this film is an issue film, with the script already up on the website, it seemed like an entirely logical thing to do. It’s almost like starting with an empty chocolate box and adding in the chocolates one by one. The audience can also get something from seeing how slotting in film sections around sections that are already there changes the emphasis and dynamic of what they’ve already absorbed.
- how do you finance the project ?
There has been zero budget for the project and it’s been very challenging indeed. Everyone’s contribution has been on the basis of good will more or less. People have been engaged by the subject matter, and they’ve been excited to get involved in a collaborative project like this. In an ideal world we’d have had a budget for the film, but a short film budget really wouldn’t have stretched very far amongst all the people who’ve gotten involved. I guess you move forward with what you have, which in our case wasn’t much! The fact of the matter is that, if a year ago someone had suggested to me that i go out and seek to work with such an extended and talented bunch of people in such an involved way with zero budget, i wouldn’t have entertained it for a second. But our film and the people involved has grown organically, so now the project is doable and deliverable in its highly ambitious form.
- what is the next step of the coalition of the willing ?
I’d like the to be seen by as many people as possible. I’d like the art and the message to be widely disseminated and for people to respond to both. It would be great if the ideas Tim has woven into the film could somehow inspire groups to set up the networks we advocate. I’m not saying our proposals are the final word on green online networks, but we’ve made some pretty pro-active statements based on some good thinking and sound sense, delivered in beautiful moving image. Of course I’d like the film to go on and do will in the festivals for everyone involved, but for me, dissemination of the message online is key. As for my next move, goodness knows. I’ll be promoting this film for some time to come, that’s for sure. I also have other ideas bubbling away, I think oil scarcity is something which will change the way we live sooner than most people realise. I have ideas for a dark and disturbing piece about that. Get in touch if you’d like to fund an animated film about post-oil oblivion!
Merci à nos amis suisses de lire Greenkiss et de diffuser l’info !
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